The Future of News Media -- Technology vs. Medium

My, my, how the world is changing. 
It seems like only yesterday the internet was in diapers, and I was doing my homework on a DOS operating system.  And while I might long for the classic games like King’s Quest, and Command & Conquer I used to play on it, my god was it primitive in comparison to the technology in 2011.  It seems fairly elementary, but we don’t usually pause to think about how advanced technology’s become, and how these changes affect the traditional news media.

It was around the early 1990’s when people consumed their news media, typically like this:  Listen to the morning news on the way to work, read the newspaper (remember that?) at lunch or break, and then watch the 6 O’clock news on TV. 

Fast-forward to 2011 and notice that there’s a different way of consuming news.  It’s called the internet. 

It allows us to access and share information with a broad audience in an instant.  Now that mostly everyone in Canada and the US has access to a computer or smart phone with internet access, we’ve seen the decline of paper newspapers….. Go figure.

They just can’t report the news as quickly in a paper format because of the time it takes to edit, and print.  In other words--- when you get a newspaper in the morning, it’s mostly reporting on yesterday’s news… and in the world of the internet and social media, that’s OLD news.

Why should I buy a newspaper when the same article is online before the paper, and is interactive using comments?

And social media, I can be updated on the latest news as it’s happening, before any reporter can write an article about it. 

If the newspaper’s not a quick enough medium for us in this fast-paced world, is the TV news?

Not really, I’d say.  The most common format for TV news is the local 6 O’clock news, which has the same problem as newspapers: it’s mostly old news.  In TV there are exceptions to this: they could be covering something live, and it is more personal for the news to be reported by a person you can see, rather than a faceless article.  But at the end of the day, it’s still mostly old news already, if you're online.

So, how is technology i.e.: the Internet and social media changing news media?

Newspapers are failing---obviously.  And the TV news is moving more to the mornings.  CTV launched its morning news show a few weeks ago, to compete with City TV’s The Big Breakfast, as the only TV news morning programs in Winnipeg.  Is this turning into a trend?  

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/morning/

Global plans to launch a new two-hour morning news program in the near future, to compete in the Winnipeg market.

Until recently, it was perceived there wasn’t much of a market for morning news, and City TV’s the Big Breakfast was the only show in town.

What’s the cause of this?  We, as a society, want our information, and we want it now.

Traditional media is learning that it needs to adapt to stay alive; and has been.  But will it be enough?

Something very important to the future of news is the medium it’s reported in.
I foresee a future where the internet, radio, and TV are all rolled into one—we practically have it already.  More and more news organizations have apps for the iPad, iPhone, Android and for other operating systems.  The problem is: how do they profit from it?  As they get more popular, I’ve seen more advertising in the apps.  Makes sense, right?  But they’re not rolling in the kind of dollars they would for TV commercials.

The news media can have their cake and eat it too, when TV and internet are one, and the distinction is negligible. 

It’s not a farfetched idea; there are TV’s that have internet access built into them.

http://www.samsung.com/uk/internet-tv/

Conversely, I fear this happening.  If and when this happens, it will mean less user control and freedom of the internet—which is the whole point: a free voice.  If it is combined with TV somehow, mark my words, somebody will regulate it.  But I think that’s where we’re headed.  It’s going to be a bumpy ride---hold on to your hat… if you haven’t already sold it for food when the financial system comes crashing down… I’ll save that topic, for next time.